This course is designed to provide primary and secondary educational leaders with the knowledge and skills necessary to understand and successfully lead their organizations within the constraints and opportunites provided by current legal and governance structures. This course focuses on policy creation and implementation strategies while managing legal risks with special attention to respecting the civil rights of all constituency groups. This course will be structured to address current issues of importance to primary and secondary educational leaders.

This course is designed to provide primary and secondary educational leaders with the knowledge and skills necessary to understand and successfully lead their organizations within the constraints and opportunities current funding streams. This course focuses on legal, equity and budgetary issues, with a focus on improving the efficacy and efficiency. This course will be structured to address current issues of importance to primary and secondary educational leaders.

This course identifies and evaluates efforts to coordinate district,university,business/industry, and community service agencies in building effective programs that enhance the capacity of educators to meet the needs of all students. Students learn to communicate effectively with various cultural,ethnic,racial,and special interest groups within the community and learn to involve them appropriately in policy development,assessment,and planning. Students learn to design and implement community needs assessment,community participation projects,and community education organizations. Students develop and understanding of community power structures,including identifying major opinion leaders and their relationships to the school. Students develop an effective and interactive staff communications plan and public relations program.

Integrates the study of the fields of curriculum, instruction and assessment from the point of view of improving learning outcomes. This course provides a critical overview of current curriculum issues and prepares participants to assume an instructional leadership role in this area. Readings, simulations, case studies, critical reflection activities, and visiting speakers are used to develop understandings of current learning theory, curriculum development, instructional strategies, and assessments. In this way students will have opportunities to practice curriculum standards alignment, student achievement data analysis,and the integration of technology.

Students develop an applied research proposal that studies an institutional issues or problems. The student will identify the question or problem to be studied and the student will, under the guidance of the instructor,develop an applied research proposal to be carried out in Applied Research Practicum II.

Students conduct the research or evaluation proposal developed in Applied Research Practicum I. The student will obtain IRB approval,collect and analyze the data,and write up the full research report.